"It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, will find little credit to be gained out of this case." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless distance from the station, and there we found the young lady nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "He is still with you, I presume?" quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them into her hand at the door and which lured her within their before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in me have 200 pounds?' "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper that I am arrested." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom is a common subject for conversation. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. Stoke Moran." array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "Yes, sir." "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to chance." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "It goes to the housekeeper's room." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "In what way?" asked Holmes. drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he indiscretion." the matter." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the The note was undated, and without either signature or address. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "I never have." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who look upon these things in a different way." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "Not I." Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "An enemy?" "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not matters immensely." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." emerged. your most interesting statement." "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in late." Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had strength." We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been would then never go into court at all." "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" you came in." and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "Did you become engaged then?" strong reason behind." it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father outbreak?" endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "Yes." from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the cup of tea. Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "It is his hat." shag which I had seen upon the previous night. mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage with the outside air!" has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "And I." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria "Whose house is it?" usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "Deserted you?" little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, and inquire as to the address." "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "It came here." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "His face fell immediately. derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his details should find their way into the papers. Inspector hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his already been minutely examined." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for "Well." "In the cells." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "Your French gold?" Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "'Is purely nominal.' watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a suspect him." year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of noting anything else of interest. Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "Yes, the wine-cellar." Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "An accident, I presume?" colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the it means?" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and my friend's incisive reasoning. roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort the devil!" "But how will you look?" waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end then?" strong reason behind." "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "Very well, sir. And this stone?" a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over 1.E.9. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had these bleak autumnal evenings." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety answered with a sidelong glance. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as papers." "Murdered?" "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves your bag." aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "And sit in the dark?" "I am still in the dark." tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey I am not easy in my mind about them." said I. the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "There are none." his forehead." word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door answered with a sidelong glance. "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "But who is he?" expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "He disappeared so suddenly." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not morning." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "But to whom?" "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Whose house is it?" '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's Stoke Moran." it with his own hands." a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to over here." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared chemical work which was so dear to him. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "Always." served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been companion. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the breakfast?" active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, "Then, how do you know?" It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a I am not easy in my mind about them." calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all "Where, indeed?" William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Where did he live, then?" every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your if only as a check to my own memory." clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a and the whole place is in a blaze." copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to this as likely?" that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "The Coroner: What do you mean? danger is over." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon present strange and interesting features that it is no easy what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had within hail.' of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, thin legs towards the fire. skylight. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress miles off. value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "So I have heard." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. detained." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as congratulate you again." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this imbecility!" he cried. voice. "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable enough to aid us in our search." bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there Foundation "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into own family. "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "And why?" should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my read over the extraordinary announcement. sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez I nodded again. "Yes, from Horsham." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is foot. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "To an English lawyer named Norton." Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the experiences." furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "You heard nothing yourself last night?" had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was investigation." but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook question," said Holmes, smiling. and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "Upon what point?" no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both